"You are dead to me dead to christ!"
In the following paragraphs, violence and oppression in Ch. 5 will discussed
and analyzed through examination of Richard Wright's --author of Black
Boy(1945)--use of diction, tone, and metaphors. Were people of his time to read
this book it's probable that would understand, wheather they agree with the
author's point of view or not, the amount of violence and oppression witnessed
by a boy his age. Richard Wright, through the the use of the words his senses
produced, brought his past into light for the children of the future. He allows
his readers to feel as he did under the light of strong persecution with the
use of an intimidating, heartfelt tone.
"The cosmic images of dread were gone
and the external world became a eality, quivering daily before me. Instead
of brooding and trying foolishly to pray, I could run and toam,
mingle with the boys and girls, feel at home with people, share a little
of life in common with others, satisfy my hunger to be and live."
Waters 2
Wright fills the chapter with a calm and
mesmorizing tone; like that of a preecher drawing his audience into a hymm.
Omisdt violence, under anger and fear, Wright converses with the reader as
though he were a youth leader telling a story to a group of boyscouts outside
by a campfire. His spellbounding words chant the reader into his world and
produce a map through which the reader follows his life in the shadows of
others. " I mingled with the boys, hoping to pass unnoticed , but knowing
that sooner or later I would be spotted for a newcomer. And trouble came
quickly- a bloabk boy came bounding past me, thumping my hat to the ground
and yelling." To keep his audience
from dazily drifting into a state of semi-consiousness, Wright interjects into
his prayer with action in an excited and staggering tone.
"A blow landed on the back of my
head. I turned and saw a brick rolling away and I felt blood oozing down my
back. I looked around and saw several brickbats scattered about. I
scooped up and handful. The two boys backed away. I took aim as they circled me
; I made a motion as if to throw and one of the boys turned and ran.
I let go with the brick and caught him in the middle of his back. He
screamed."
By randomly
shifting tone and using a variety of diction, Wright keeps his readers on edge.
In Ch. 5 Writght fluctuates word choice with action; when there is none his
words express a valuable peace in hysteris. When action is not present Wright
seems to speak in a peaceful voice that softens the reader to his pains.
"... I was reserved with the boys and
Waters 3
girls at school,
seeking their company but never letting them guess how much I was being kept
out of the world in which they lived, valuing their casual feiendships but
hiding it, acutely self consious but covering it with a quick smile and a readt
phrase." When there was action; however, Wright made sure the reader knew;
"I hesitated for a moment, then
acted; I brushed the rock from my shoulder and ducked and grabbed him
about the legs and dumped him to the ground. A volcano of screams erupted
from the crowd. I jumped upon the
fallen boy and started pounding him. Then I was jerked up. Another boy had begun to fight me . My
straw hat had been crushed and forgotton."
Without his use
of diction, Wright's metaphorical rhetoric would not stir the readers emotions
as it does.
In a combination with paralellism Wright uses
metaphors against his audience to sway the intensity of their emotions in his
direction.
"There were hours when hunger would
make me weak, would make me sway while walking, would make my heart
give a sudden wild spurt of beating that would shake my body and make
me breathless; but the happiness of being free would lift me
beyond hunger, would enable me to discipline
the sensations of my body to the extent that I could temporarily forget."
Waters 4
To follow, Wright
used metaphors in the dialogue of othercharacters, such as the grandmother when
she said, "You left the church and you are on your own. You are with the
world. You're dead to me dead to christ."
With all of the language devices Wright
used to express violence and oppression, many of them did not appear in dialogue.
It, however, still possessed a strong force. "If you touch me, I'll cut
you, so help me. I am going to leave as soon as I can work and make a living.
But as long as I'm here, you better not touch me...If you touch me when I'm
sleeping, I'll kill you."
Richard Wright was witness of as much violence
and oppression in his early years as was there for any man of the time. His
expierences as a young boy shaped him into the man and author he bacame. And
through his writing, he shapes his readers with his words. "Suddenly the
future loomed tangibly for me, as tangible as the future can loom for a black
boy in Mississippi."
No comments:
Post a Comment